His Princess

Niall was waiting on the elevator for me. Literally. I went to get on and was surprised by his gorgeous face waiting on me.

He greeted me with a very pleasant smile. “Hello, beautiful. Top of the mornin’ to ya.”

I laughed, and just like that, all of the stress of my day just vanished into thin air. “Hello to you too, gorgeous. What brings you here?”

“You, silly girl,” he laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh with him. “We’ll talk in the room. First, how was your day?”

“Weird. Also, I think Harry wants to get me in trouble,” I informed him. “He wouldn’t stop making me laugh all day, and he got Louis to join him.”

Niall continued laughing. “Sounds like them. The lads are all about mischief and getting laughs outta people. So I wasn’t the only one texting you then.”

I shook my head. “Liam checked up on me, too. Zayn . . . well, we just talked for a little bit. Less than Liam and me.”

He nodded, seeming to understand why I said it like that. “He asked what was wrong earlier today, but I told him I couldn’t tell. I guess he went straight to the source.”

“He did,” I agreed. “I just told him it was something about me. He didn’t question it from there.”

“Zayn usually understands that he doesn’t have to know everything,” he said. “That’s one of the great things about him. One of the many.”

We got to the room right about then, and Niall began acting strangely. He seemed jittery, nervous even, and I didn’t understand at all. After fidgeting with the room key and stumbling through the doorway, he began frantically searching for something.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “You seem kinda nervous.”

He looked over at me, his wide and incredible blue eyes piercing through me as he started fumbling around for words. “I-I-I’m good. Alright, I guess. I’m not used to doing this kinda thing, ya know?”

I shook my head. “What kind of thing?”

His movement stopped suddenly, and his eyes began drifting around the room. “Uh . . . well, to start, I’m leaving New York tonight.”

This knocked the breath out of me as I began trying to make sense of things. Of course. Fairytale over. He was getting back to his life, and it was time for me to get back to mine. Our worlds, though both crazy, were three totally different places, and it was time for us to go our separate ways. He mentioned leaving last night, but I never really thought too much about it.
For whatever reason, I stupidly thought he was always going to be around. Either that or I really just didn’t think about it.

I finally regained my composure right about the time he looked over at me. “Oh? Back to Ireland?”

He nodded. “Theo’s in the hospital. He’s really sick, and since I have some time now, I’m gonna go back and see him. I leave tonight at eleven.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, and in an attempt to help, I hugged him. Originally, I meant for the hug to be quick, but he gripped me tightly against him. Yesterday, I had done so well at hiding the pain from the hugs and tight spaces, but a cry of pain came out today.

Niall quickly released me, and his wide eyes looked down at my face. “Did I hurt you?”

“Actually, something I forgot to mention last night was that he bruised, possibly cracked, a couple of ribs as well,” I admitted. “Just didn’t think about it.”

This didn’t help his mood, really, because now he looked guilty and torn up. “Well never mind then . . . .”

“What?” I insisted. “I’m fine, Niall. Really. What were you going to say?”

Now, he was nervous all over again, and he began fidgeting. “I, uh, well, wanted to know if you would like to, uh, you know . . . go on a date with me.”

This surprised me more than anything else. He was all nervous . . . because he was asking me on a date. He was nervous about asking me on a date. This wasn’t what I expected, at all, and it scared me.

I actually felt tears coming to my eyes. “Niall, I . . . I can’t.”

This wasn’t the answer he hoped for, clearly, but he tried to act cool about it as he nodded. “Oh. That, uh, it’s fine.”

“Let me explain,” I pleaded. “Niall, I really like you. I do, but . . . you really deserve better. It’s stupid, but it’s true. I mean it. My life is a wreck. It won’t get better for a long time. You have a crazy life, and so do I, but they’re two different worlds. Three different worlds is actually more accurate, because my life consists of two different worlds in itself. You deserve someone who can give you the world, not someone who is scared and could be a danger to you while also someone who could completely destroy your life as you know it. I am so sorry, Niall. Truly I am. I wish things were different, but they’re not.”

“Just hear me out,” he said before I could turn to the door to leave, which I had been about to do. “One date. Maybe it’ll change your mind.”

I shook my head. “If I do this, I’ll only see that you’re more perfect than I already think you are, and I’ll have to say no even more. Saying no will be more crucial, but it’ll be so much harder to do.”

“I am not perfect,” he said, and there was a dark and very bitter undertone that surprised me. “Don’t you see? Emmit, this is crazy. We met three days ago after Sparrow tazed Liam, but I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve had so many dreams of things you and I could do, what we could be, and I want nothing more than to make them come true. Emmit,”—he stepped closer to me so he could tilt my face up towards his, gently—“I want to give you the world. You kept saying how we gave Mika hope, but I want to be your hope. You need something in your own life, too, and I want to be that for you.”

Now, I felt more determined to get it through to him, despite the fact that my heart was trying to burst through my rib cage. It hurt so badly, but it was a pleasant pain that I really didn’t mind. “Let’s be realistic, Niall. What if something happens? You and I both know that this won’t be easy, and what if it doesn’t work? I’ll have no hope left, and I’ll just hurt that much worse.”

“We’ll take it slow, see how it goes,” he suggested. “I need a girl strong enough to handle this life, a girl who can live without me, and I know that you can. I’m not saying you won’t miss me, but you’ll be able to function and be happy while I’m away. I’m not saying we haveta get serious and talk about the rest of our lives. All I’m saying is that I’m not ready for you to be out of my life. I don’t know if I ever will be, and that scares me a little. I really want this. I wanna know everything about you, see the things you do. I wanna give you the world. I don’t wanna look back and have regrets or wonder what we woulda been.”

This still didn’t sound safe to me, but he didn’t seem like he was ready to give up. My heart was already giving in, and it was ready to dive right in and take the risk. So, after watching him and loving the way his eyes lit up with hope and anticipation, I gave him a small smile. The second I did, his face lit up as well, and a beautiful and very eager smile spread across his perfect lips.

“We’ll try it,” I finally decided, and he carefully hugged me as his excitement caused his body to shake a little. “I’m gonna go home and change first, though.”

He nodded. “I’ll go get ready, and then we’ll head to your place for—”

“Nope,” I said, and with a coy smile, I began walking backwards towards the door. “I’m gonna go get ready and then come by and pick you up.”

He frowned. “But it would just be easier for you if you didn’t have to keep coming here.”

I shrugged. “The hotel is on my way back into the city. Are you planning on going into the city for our date?”

“Well, yes,” he said. “But I would prefer to walk, if you don’t mind. It makes things easier, with traffic and such.”

“Of course,” I agreed. “And then I can take you to the airport.”

This surprised him, but when I said it, his eyes lit up again. “Okay. Thank you. I’ll be packed and ready when you get back.”

I smiled at him. “Niall, this is gonna be fun, but please don’t get your hopes up.”

This dimmed his mood slightly, but it also got him thinking. “I can’t just not hope you’ll decide to try this.”

A part of me regretted agreeing to this after hearing him say that, but my heart already knew this was everything I wanted. So, with a tiny smile, I turned and left out the door only to rush back in right before the door closed. When I opened it back, he had already taken off his shirt and was looking at me with curious eyes and a shy smile.

Of course, I smiled back, now much brighter than before. “Okay. Well, I came to tell you to text me when you’re ready, and I’ll come get you. I’ll probably take longer, but, well, just let me know.”

He laughed and nodded. “I will.”

“Thank you,” I said before turning and heading out of the room again. It was much harder to do that time because, okay, Niall is sexy. Whether he has clothes on or not, that boy is sexy.
Leaving him behind in that state, or just behind in general, was quite a challenge.

When I got out to my Jeep, I remembered something irritating.

I had to work tonight.

I pulled up my manager’s cell phone number with a sigh. I wasn’t one to call in, even when I was sick. Usually, she had to send me home, so she always told me that if I needed to call in, she wouldn’t hold it against me. Still, I hated doing this.

She answered almost immediately. “Hey, girly. What’s up?”

“Okay, Jane, I do not do this,” I said.

She laughed. “What is it, hon? You sick? Don’t feel too great? Just don’t feel like coming in?”

“Niall Horan just asked me on a date,” I said. “He’s leaving town tonight, and he wants me to go out with him.”

She laughed. “Alright, girl. You can just tell me the truth.”

I let out a breath as my eyes widened. “Actually, Jane, I am telling you the truth. Hard to believe myself, but . . . I’m being honest with you.”

That caught her off guard. “Holy sh—crap! Yes. If I found out that you didn’t call in after that, I’d kill you! Go girl, and get me a picture! How did you even manage that?”

“Long story that I swear I’ll explain my next shift,” I promised. “Thank you, Jane. You’re the best. I love you.”

“I love you too, girl!” she exclaimed. “Now go get some of that Irish cutie!”

Only Jane. Literally, only Jane. She was the general manager of the coffee shop I worked at, and it helped that she loved me as much as she did. Though she was twenty-four, she was probably a bigger One Direction fan than I was, insisting that none of them were too young for her.

Technically, that was true.

After hanging up with Jane, I called Sparrow, and she answered as quickly as Jane had. “Yes, ma’am? Already left Niall? Wow.”

I let out a deep huff. “Yes because I’m headed home to get ready for our date.”

To say I had to sit my phone in the seat beside me while she jumped around and squealed for at least a minute is no exaggeration. I could hear her over my music with the phone in the passenger’s seat beside me, and if she wasn’t alone, it would’ve freaked her parents out for sure.

Finally, though, she was eagerly talking, which I couldn’t understand without picking my phone back up. “. . . and I don’t wanna say I told you so because I’m so freaking happy for you! AHH! This is fantastic! And you actually agreed?! I honestly halfway expected you to say no if he asked.”

“I did,” I said, smiling bashfully even though she wasn’t here. “I’m sure I’m the only single teenage girl on this planet that would ever say that, but I did. He just convinced me otherwise.”

“What did he say?” she asked. “It had to be good and super cute.”

“It was,” I said, and tears came to my eyes again. I wasn’t sure if they were happy or sad tears, but I didn’t try to fight them, either way. And from there, I pretty much told her our conversation word for word. It kept replaying in my head, and honestly, I didn’t think I would ever forget it. Just in case, I planned to write it down word for word when I got home.

Yes. I had that conversation with Niall Horan. He wanted to be with me. Niall wanted to be with me.

Saying that over and over in my head still didn’t make any sense. I still couldn’t understand or fathom why, but when I got home, I said goodbye to a very excited and happy Sparrow and went inside to talk to Maw and Paw, with Mika in the mix as well.

“Here it goes.”

Notes

The lyrics are from Into Your Arms by the Maine. :)

:D

I find this chapter to be adorable. Idk about you. Niall's such a cutie in this chapter. <3 Swoon.

Anyways, let me know what you think! Trust me. The date chapter is even more adorable. :3 So let me know what you think, and I'll get it up for you. :)

Well, there's one chapter where she's getting ready, and then the date chapter . . .but either way, it's soon! Let me know what you think of this one, and I'll get it up. :)